JOHNSON CITY — East Tennessee State is turning to a decorated defensive coach with ties to the area to lead its fledgling football program.

Carl Torbush will be introduced Friday as the Bucs’ new coach, ending a more than two-month search. ETSU officials have not confirmed his hiring, but have scheduled a 5 o’clock press conference at the Millennium Center.

Torbush, 61, is a former head coach at North Carolina and has compiled a well-traveled resume as a defensive specialist since graduating from Carson-Newman College in 1974. He most recently coached linebackers at Liberty last year.